No Excuses Coaching with Ryan Montis & Alanna Banks
Why September 2023 is a game-changing moment for coaches.
Sep 10, 2023Season 3Episode 20
Ryan Montis & Alanna Banks
How has the pandemic transformed our communication and engagement methods, and what does this mean for you?
Join us in this boundary-pushing episode as we unlock the secrets behind these questions and explore the significance of September as a time of new beginnings.
This episode provides practical tools and strategies to navigate these changes.
We unearth the opportunities waiting for coaches and service providers this September. We highlight the end of the summer lull and the return to normalcy post-pandemic and stress the importance of online visibility.
Tune in for tips on making your social media activity fruitful and enjoyable this September. If you're a coach hungry for more clients and referrals, this conversation is a goldmine you won't want to miss.
Want to sponsor an episode and promote your business and social media profiles? Send SPONSOR to @itsthenoexcusespodcast, and we'll get back with the information. Investment is under $20 per episode.
How has the pandemic transformed our communication and engagement methods, and what does this mean for you?
Join us in this boundary-pushing episode as we unlock the secrets behind these questions and explore the significance of September as a time of new beginnings.
This episode provides practical tools and strategies to navigate these changes.
We unearth the opportunities waiting for coaches and service providers this September. We highlight the end of the summer lull and the return to normalcy post-pandemic and stress the importance of online visibility.
Tune in for tips on making your social media activity fruitful and enjoyable this September. If you're a coach hungry for more clients and referrals, this conversation is a goldmine you won't want to miss.
Want to sponsor an episode and promote your business and social media profiles? Send SPONSOR to @itsthenoexcusespodcast, and we'll get back with the information. Investment is under $20 per episode.
Happy to be back. I'm back in my office, back on the podcast, back in the. Dms.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, the listeners are back too, probably because the summer has ended. The kids are back at school, people are back to work.
Speaker 2:
Things are going back.
Speaker 1:
Things are going back. Yeah, things are back in business.
Speaker 2:
Which means moving forward.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Back and forward at the same time.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, boom. Whenever I think of September, I always think of it as the new year. For some reason it's like summers over. We get back into the groove. It's the last quarter before the end of the year. Yeah, it's kind of a time to get organized and get back to schedule, get back to your routines. We're going to talk a little bit about that today. We're going to talk about how September and this September in particular, september 2023, is a really, really important time for coaches, online service providers. It's a pivotal time right now.
Speaker 2:
We're recording this right on Tuesdays. We're recording this on Tuesday, september 5th 2023. This episode will come out during the second week of September and, for those listeners that are listening, right now, if you didn't realize it, this is a very pivotal month. This September is different than previous September's, both over the last three years and ever. We'll talk about why.
Speaker 1:
Mm-hmm, yeah, we're going to talk about. Why Should we just talk about that right now?
Speaker 2:
No, we should build anticipation.
Speaker 1:
Oh, got it.
Speaker 2:
To the point where the listeners are so frustrated that they're just about to turn off the episode, and then we'll tell them the important information that they need to know.
Speaker 1:
Well, in the meantime, maybe we can talk about what we have going on outside of the podcast that the listeners can benefit from.
Speaker 2:
Yes, I'll do mine first and I'll be really quick.
Speaker 1:
OK.
Speaker 2:
Simple social sanctuary. Come learn how to do social media more easily and better with Ryan Montess. Details at ryanmontesscom.
Speaker 1:
But Perfect, and for me I'll be quick too. So you can book an on our virtual Zoom column reading with me If you go to my Instagram, atalanabankscoaching. There's a link to book in my profile, and this is a really good time of year to have a poem reading, because it's, as we were talking, about the start of routine and new things and taking action. I go into a lot of detail about work, about your health, about your relationships, about your whole life, really, so it's a really wholesome way to move forward.
Speaker 1:
For this next little bit of the year, I've also kicked off a community. It's a group coaching community called the Ascension Circle, and it is for solopreneurs, so people who are online service providers, coaches, hypnotherapists, lightworkers, tarot card readers, whatever but basically it's like a supportive community where you can bounce ideas around, brainstorm, get support, ask questions, get coaching and also go through the mindset shifts required for people who are working solo, because sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated and do the work. This community meets every other Tuesday at noon Eastern Standard Time, and you can find out more about that if you go to my Instagram, adelana Banks Coaching. Cool, yeah, and the first call kicks off next Tuesday, so the day after this will be live, which is September 12th.
Speaker 2:
Awesome, that's it. Love it.
Speaker 1:
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:
Okay, let's.
Speaker 1:
Oh, let's dive into this.
Speaker 2:
We got a little list here. It's September and this September, like I said, is different than previous September's, ever in my opinion, and one of the big reasons is this is the first September that's truly, in my opinion, post-pandemic Mm-hmm and 2023 September is the first one where it's like okay, I think everything that was shut down is either gone for good or it's back open again.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
The restrictions on movement, restrictions on everything are, I think, universally gone now. Yeah, which means very different than even last year. The kids are going back to school, people are going back to work for September or whatever. Young adults are going back to post-secondary education. All this stuff that hasn't been happening or hasn't been happening in a normal way for the past few years is happening again.
Speaker 1:
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:
And you said it in the beginning of the episode September is like the beginning of the year. Well, it's the beginning of A lot of people live their life on the so-called school year. Right yeah, the September.
Speaker 2:
September is the beginning and then summer is the end, almost, and this is the first time in a while we're going back to that, with the big, big, big difference being that some important things, especially for coaches and entrepreneurs, really changed over the last three years, and one of the biggest ones is the embrace of working with practitioners outside of your country or city, because of the proliferation and the increasing quality and reliability of video conferencing and video communication. Yeah, you know, people forget. Yeah, we had FaceTime right at the beginning of the pandemic, but because of the events of the last three, three, four years, three years, like Zoom and Microsoft, whatever their thing is and Google Meets are like night and day different and better than they were three years ago.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's so true. And social media is different, and the way human beings communicate and engage with one another is very different today than it was right.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and I think now it just it feels normal, right, like it feels like it's just part of the way we do business now.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
Like hopping on a Zoom, doesn't it feels like just picking up the phone? It doesn't feel weird or awkward, or yeah. And working with someone in a different part of the world doesn't feel weird either. It feels like common practice.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and at this point, like I'm on Zoom. I'm on video conference like a hundred times more often than phone calls.
Speaker 1:
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:
Phone calls now are a thing of the past. Basically it's video conferencing or text. Right, yeah, Okay and a lot of.
Speaker 2:
I was telling my students, my members, in the simple social sanctuary the other day a lot of people forget that pre-pandemic there was a very predictable pattern of online traffic and that there was a big lull in July, august and then a big uptick in September. That kind of went away and everything kind of got mushed into like this just consistent people are either online or not throughout the year because of the events of the last three years, and now I'm predicting that we're going to see again that that pattern start to emerge again, where there's a big lull in July, august and a big uptick in online traffic, which brings with it a big uptick in the investment in online services in September and the fall.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and I think also, people have gone through a lot over the last three years in terms of just like their own growth and development or things that have happened. A lot of people have been laid off and now are starting new jobs, so there's a lot of I think there's a lot of need out there for help from coaches or maybe therapists, something like that, to get you back on track. I've had a lot of inquiries recently of people just being like I've had a really difficult year and I finally want to do something about it. I'm ready to tackle whatever it is that's going on for me, because it's kind of like I was talking to someone about this the other day.
Speaker 1:
Actually, when do we stop blaming COVID and start to actually take responsibility for what is actually going on here? You know what I mean. It's not COVID anymore. I was specifically talking to a teacher about this and we were just kind of talking about the state of the kids and stuff like that. But it's like when are we going to stop blaming COVID and just start looking at what's going on in the homes of these kids or what's actually going on with these kids and how they're dealing and managing their emotions and that type of thing too. So it's kind of like it's been three years or four, I guess almost four years, just like. When can we stop blaming COVID and start taking responsibility and taking radical action for improving our life right or making changes or shifting bad habits?
Speaker 2:
And I believe that the answer for many, many, many people is now.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
As summer comes to an end and we move into fall, either consciously or unconsciously, people are realizing oh, that change. I've been waiting to make that thing, I've been waiting to do that problem, I've been waiting to address that next level that I've been waiting to step up into. Now is the time.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Now is the time, and I was on the call with many of the students from, like I said, the sanctuary the other day and I was explaining this and I could see it in the faces in the room as I was explaining it People were. It was moving from unconscious awareness to conscious awareness and people were nodding and I just asked, like does anybody feel this way? And I was talking to coaches about their clients, really, but I just asked them. I said, does anybody feel this way themselves? That now you know we're leaving a chapter behind and we're starting a new chapter, mm-hmm, hardly. You feel like it's time to take an action that you weren't taking before. And everybody, everybody in the room, put their hand up and, you know, gave me the smile and knowing nod. You know, I think it's probably over the next few weeks that's going to be the attitude that across the globe.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, Well, I'm feeling it too, Like I'm I'm like on action mode right now. Like I've, I've taken the learnings, I've, I've really kind of like figured out what I like, what I don't like, what works for me, what doesn't, and, and now I am like I feel really solid in terms of like what direction I want to move and you know what actions I want to take over the next few months.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
The other thing to note too like, astrologically speaking, we're also coming to an end of a. I have a 19 year cycle, so what's important for many people to do is to review the last 19 years and also look back at where were you in September? What are we 2023? Where were, like, what were you doing in September 2004? And are you doing the same thing now that you were doing then? Are there things that are bothering you, that were bothering you then, that are still bothering you now, right? So, like, look back over the last 19 years and figure out, like what, what's changed and what hasn't, and what do you want to change, because this is the time to do it. The end of that of the cycle is supposed to be like November, the very beginning of November.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:
And we're in like a huge retrograde season right now. So retrograde doesn't mean like don't take action right, Like you still have to work and you still have to do your things, but it's also a time to reflect and learn the lessons and then apply what you've learned and start taking action. So that's what I've been doing. I'm really looking at like, okay, where was I 19 years ago, 20 years ago, and am I in the same spot now that maybe in a different realm? Right?
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
It's a good little exercise.
Speaker 2:
Very true, 2004,. Where was I, geez? That feels like a long time ago. Yeah 19 years ago.
Speaker 1:
I had just started my career in public relations. I had just gotten my first job at a public relations agency.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think I had just moved. It was this time of year. Yeah, I had just moved to Ottawa. I just moved to Ottawa Interesting.
Speaker 1:
I was really excited. Actually, at this time in 2004, I was working at a really small agency and my client was diesel. Do you remember diesel genes?
Speaker 2:
Definitely not. Oh, diesel genes, diesel genes. Genes, yeah, diesel genes you were talking about, like a man, diesel genes is on the scene. Canadian celebrity, represented by Atlanta Banks and their Molly assortment of public relations folks.
Speaker 1:
No. Diesel genes it was very cool, very cool to be working for diesel and they had an activation at the Toronto International Film Festival and it was literally my first week on the job and we had to do this whole activation with all these VIP guests at this TIF party. I got a free pair of diesel genes. I felt so cool. Anyway, miles away from what I'm doing now, but that's what was going on for me September 2004.
Speaker 2:
Heck, yeah, yeah. So yeah, there was a big change in my life around the same time as well, again moving to move into Ottawa. That was. That was when I moved out of my family home for the first time, actually, for the only time, for the one time. Yeah, wow, okay.
Speaker 1:
All right, so let's summarize.
Speaker 2:
Here we have our little list of why September is important, what these folks need to be aware of. Let's go through it here. Number one was things are different post pandemic, and they are. Yeah, you know, we can work online in a way that we just we're not doing before the pandemic. So there's that, the proliferation and improvement of zoom and other video conferencing and kind of the, you know, the circumvention of boundaries that were previously there, right Like these days you don't think twice about working with somebody anywhere in the world, right For the most part so things are different.
Speaker 1:
There goes well beyond that.
Speaker 2:
But things are different now. Number two is the kids are back to school, parents back to the office For the first time in a long time. You know we're going back to normal, or to what is our new normal, and that means that you know that part of people that has been waiting to take action now is probably ready to take action, looking for the open door to walk through, looking for the opportunity to invest in, looking for the person potentially to help them get to that next level or escape that old, you know problem or whatever it is. Coaches invention, right. Number three the summer lull is over in a way that it hasn't been over for a while. Right. The effects of the summer lull in terms of online traffic and online sales and coaching sales were dulled during the pandemic because a lot more people were forced not forced, but driven online and yeah, well, people weren't away on vacations or you know doing things.
Speaker 1:
They weren't liking that oscillation of traffic where it goes way down.
Speaker 2:
In the summer that oscillation was almost flattened over the last. Now it's not Right, yeah, or at least not the way that it has been so big uptick in traffic and the investment in self coming in the next. When written like starting right now.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, like the next couple of weeks, for sure.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and into the fall, and into the fall. Mm hmm, november 4th is the. As Alana described, november 4th is the end of a 19 year cycle.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
For those of you that subscribe to that School of Thought, which I know is a lot of you. And the last question is what do we do now?
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
What do we do now Should?
Speaker 1:
we just play.
Speaker 2:
There's that Green Day song Wake Me Up in September. Yeah, we just play that on repeat and just cry Maybe eat lasagna. I'm gonna have lasagna in a while.
Speaker 1:
Oh, I could go for lasagna actually, yeah just yeah, but a happy lasagna.
Speaker 1:
What do we do now?
Speaker 1:
I think the most important thing to do right now is go on to social media and start talking about what you sell, right, start talking about it and consistently talk about it, and this is something we were talking about when we jumped on record.
Speaker 1:
But being consistent on social media is great for a couple of reasons, one being you're showing up in the algorithm all the time, but if you get dizzy and you can't post maybe a day or two in a row or something like that, when you have that bank of content that's been created and you have that consistency, that momentum behind you, your stuff still bubbles to the surface and you get people liking your stuff from a week ago. Super, true, we've talked about this so many times in the season, but it doesn't need to be perfect. Just put something out there, let people know what you're doing, sell your stuff. The thing is, people are looking right now, as we said, right, people are looking and hungry for personal development and finding a coach. They're not going to find you because they're not going to go searching for you. They're going to find the person who is?
Speaker 1:
showing up the most Right now is a crux. If you were kind of dialing it in, you got to put yourself out there. You've got to get your stuff out on social media because people are looking and they're not going to be.
Speaker 2:
If you're not showing up, they're not going to find you. Be discoverable, be visible. Double down, triple down, 10x down on your social media activity in September. Without going crazy, without burning yourself out. It can be easy, it can be fun. Actually, it should be easy and it should be fun. If it's not, come join me at the Simple Social Sanctuary. I'll show you how to make it. If you're a coach who's not yet getting lots of referrals and clients coming in on autopilot, you need to be disrupting people's time on social media by putting out good content that catches their attention.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, don't be passive. Another really good tip, too, is reach out to past clients right now. Send people an email Personally. Send people an email, or send people past clients a DM that you may be worked with during the pandemic or over the last few years, and just ask them if they're looking for coaching.
Speaker 2:
Yep.
Speaker 1:
Just checking in see how things are going. You could always say I know a lot of people are looking for coaching right now, looking for some personal development that you're still available if they want to work with you or if there's something new that's coming up.
Speaker 1:
Yeah definitely, because that'll be. Actually, if you listen to, I feel like I just listened to an episode where we talked about it. I did. I just posted on our YouTube channel. The most recent one on our YouTube channel is from season two, but it's, if you think you've tried everything. It's a really good episode. There's some gems in there that I forgot about, but that's a good episode to revisit right now because it's going to give you a list of action items that you'll get moving.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, definitely Boom. All right, I think we got it on this one.
Speaker 1:
I think so, take some action, get out there, start pitching your services.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I know, for many of you, your intuition has been telling you okay, september's the time to take some real action, make some stuff happen, and you're right.
Speaker 1:
Do it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, today, not even today, right this minute Second.
Speaker 1:
Stop listening to the podcast and go.
Speaker 2:
We've said everything important. The rest is just fluff. Make a post.
Speaker 1:
All right, well, that's it for this week.
Speaker 2:
How's that for a lead out? That's good.
Speaker 1:
Cool.
Speaker 2:
Join us next week at RyanMontezNLP at RyanMontezcom. What's your Instagram these days?
Speaker 1:
Adalina Banks Coaching. I'm reading because I haven't read a poem in about a week and I'm getting nervous. Yeah, she's like.
Speaker 2:
Tinkerbell, if she doesn't look at enough poems, she starts to fade away, and we don't want that because she's got the podcast.
Speaker 1:
No, so please book a poem reading Actually. Today posted an Instagram post about the benefits of a poem reading on Zoom and why I love reading poems over Zoom more than in person.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, Go check it out.
Speaker 1:
Cool, okay, bye. Well, I'll leave you to high school.
